Picaresque Novels: Guzman de Alfarache and El Buscon
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Guzman de Alfarache
Author and Publication
Guzman de Alfarache, the work of Mateo Aleman, was published in two parts: the first in 1599 and the second in 1604.
Key Features
The novel presents two distinct levels of discourse:
- The life of a rogue, Guzman.
- Constant moral reflections by the narrator.
These two levels serve a didactic purpose: to contribute to the common good.
Themes and Interpretation
Guzman de Alfarache is presented as an autobiography, selecting events that shape the protagonist's evolution. The novel offers a deeply pessimistic interpretation that exemplifies the author's religious beliefs. It posits that humans have free will and, despite the existence of evil, can achieve salvation through divine grace. The didactic purpose also encompasses various aspects of human life, emphasizing issues such as honor and the importance of money.
Style
The novel's style combines plain style, slang, and colloquial expressions with cultured language, syntactic complexity, and expressive resources. On a doctrinal level, it presents evaluative and universal discourse.
El Buscon
Picaresque Classification
El Buscon, by Francisco de Quevedo, has been classified as a picaresque novel due to its fictional autobiographical account of a miserable character.
Features
The protagonist, Pablos, is a hustler who expresses a constant desire for social advancement and shows no remorse for his misdeeds. The novel chronologically recounts his life, beginning with his unsavory origins and continuing through his picaresque life, alternating between learning experiences and failed attempts to climb the social ladder. Quevedo uses his character and narrator as the subject of a series of incidents designed to provoke laughter from the reader. In his wanderings, Pablos encounters various characters, presenting a picture of the marginal world. Recurring themes throughout the book include Pablos's embarrassment about his family, his desire to thrive, and violence.
Interpretation and Evaluation
Some critics view El Buscon as a book of wit and acuity, comprising a series of disjointed, burlesque scenes. Others argue that the picaresque facade hides a moralizing intent, recognizing a defined structure within the work.
Style
Quevedo masterfully employs all the resources of literary conceits in El Buscon.